Hungarian GP Qualifying and Race thread.

[Knock-on]

Come on Dave and VB, you boys are really slipping :

[Knock-on]

Massa and Ferrari rampant in Practive one but McLaren showing strong in P2.

[Knock-on]

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:20.554 35
2. Piquet Renault (B) 1:20.748 + 0.194 38
3. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:20.760 + 0.206 33
4. Alonso Renault (B) 1:20.928 + 0.374 35
5. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:21.009 + 0.455 35
6. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:21.010 + 0.456 36
7. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) 1:21.138 + 0.584 46
8. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) 1:21.363 + 0.809 36
9. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:21.505 + 0.951 42
10. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:21.581 + 1.027 34
11. Glock Toyota (B) 1:21.662 + 1.108 39
12. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:21.733 + 1.179 43
13. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:21.837 + 1.283 34
14. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:21.902 + 1.348 33
15. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:21.955 + 1.401 41
16. Button Honda (B) 1:22.150 + 1.596 41
17. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:22.197 + 1.643 36
18. Sutil Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:22.358 + 1.804 37
19. Barrichello Honda (B) 1:22.448 + 1.894 33
20. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:22.945 + 2.391 5

Very strong showing from Renault.

I know it's only practice but warning bells for Ferrari.

[jens]

McLaren is the obvious favourite. Their advantage in last year's qualifying was so clear that drivers even had time to solely concentrate on each other and start blocking. : Hockenheim showed that McLaren is now quick on every kind of circuits, and Hungaroring, which demand more mechanical grip, should well suit them or at least even more than other circuits.

Ferrari is probably the second force. I personally expect Räikkönen to be the stronger of the two Ferrari guys this time. Massa has really never impressed me in Hungary, except his debut race in 2002, when he finished narrowly out of the points. BMW might interrupt Ferrari a bit. Alonso has shown that Renault has good qualifying pace, so he may be high up on the grid. Toyota should fight for points as also Red Bull and STR (with Vettel). And why not even Williams. Hungaroring is called "Monaco without walls" and at Monaco Rosberg was really flying until he started knocking his front wings off.

Hungaroring is Jarno's worst circuit in F1 calendar, so I dare not to have too high expectations - as the track is quite abrasive, then he has usually struggled with tyre wear in races. But on the other hand, who knows - if the car is well-balanced and enables to overcome the issues, then he may put in a decent drive too like in 2005, which I personally regard as Jarno's best ever Hungarian GP, when he finished 4th and kept good pace throughout the race, although finished behind his team-mate.

But it's really time for Timo to shine and to collect the good for the team this time. If he struggles to beat Jarno on this circuit, it will be even harder during the rest of the season!

[Shalafi]

Well, Kimi was a little worried after practise because of big time difference to Hamilton. He is having troubles to turn Ferrari in some corners. Its better than in Hockenheim, but should be better. He still thinks that they can have it a better in qualifying, but its difficult to say will it be good enough.

Heikki, in the other hand, is very pleased with the car and thinks that he can really fight for pole tomorrow.

So, Macs seems to have an edge here.

[pettersolberg29]

Force India not last or second last is the biggest shock!

[ioan]

Force India not last or second last is the biggest shock!

They are using their new seamless unit. Not sure they will use it for the race though.

[Oli_M]

Speed TV commentators reckoned that most teams used little fuel in P1 to assess the graining they expected to experience - and that Ferrari used noticably less fuel than McLaren during this time.

Looking at P2 where its assumed they would all have probably done a low-fuel run in a quali simulation, seems very close on pace. Renault def up there - Alonso has always gone well at this track - often in not the best car - possibility for a outside bet for pole??

[speeddurango]

I wouldn't really agree with Pter Windsor's assesment of performance based on fuel load, simply by looking at Renault, unless they are all of a sudden very fast, otherwise by finishing 2nd and 4th only indicates a lot of people are still carrying some extra.

[Dave B]

Come on Dave and VB, you boys are really slipping :

I was up at 4:30, I should have snuck on and started the thread while you were still in your jim-jams